Skip to main content

MicroSD Express format brings blazing-fast data transfer speeds to devices

MWC 2025
Read our complete coverage of Mobile World Congress
microSD Express & SD Express - Revolutionary Innovation for SD Memory Cards

At Mobile World Congress, the SD Association announced the new MicroSD Express format, promising blazing-fast data transfer rates when paired up in phones, cameras, and other compatible devices. Memory cards with the new format depend on the faster PCIe and NVMe interfaces found in SSDs and can deliver speeds of up to 985 megabytes per second.

Recommended Videos

MicroSD storage has always been considered slower than the traditional internal storage found on board modern devices, but the new MicroSD Express standard changes that. As the best example, Western Digital announced the 1TB SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card during Mobile World Congress. The card only manages to record data at a speed of 160 megabytes per second, not coming close to the 985 megabytes per second speeds of MicroSD Express.

The new MicroSD Express cards not only will be much faster but also will need less energy than traditional MicroSD memory cards, while keeping the same maximum consumed power. It will be backward compatible with legacy MicroSD interfaces and will be found in a variety of formats, including MicroSDHC Express, MicroSDXC Express, and MicroSDUC Express. This all means you can still use MicroSD Express cards on older devices, but with slower speeds.

“NVMe is the industry-recognized performance SSD interface from the client to the data center to mobile, shipping in millions of units,” said Amber Huffman, NVM Express Inc. president. “By SDA adopting NVMe technology into the new MicroSD Express cards, users can experience lower latency and increasingly fast transfer speeds across various applications.”

According to the SD Association, the new MicroSD Express standard will also offer system developers new options coming with the PCIe and NVMe capabilities. These include bus mastering, multi-queue (without locking mechanism) and host memory buffer. Since this means MicroSD Express cards won’t have to communicate by tasking the CPU, it holds a huge potential in gaming systems, multi-channel IoT devices, higher resolution mobile videos, action cameras, and virtual reality.

“MicroSD Express gives the mobile industry a compelling new choice to equip mobile devices with removable SSDs,” said Hiroyuki Sakamoto, SDA president. “SD 7.1 prepares consumers and mobile device manufacturers to meet ever-increasing storage demands for years to come.”

No word yet on when manufacturers will start making memory cards with the new format.

Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
Your politeness toward ChatGPT is increasing OpenAI’s energy costs 
ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode on a smartphone.

Everyone’s heard the expression, “Politeness costs nothing,” but with the advent of AI chatbots, it may have to be revised.

Just recently, someone on X wondered how much OpenAI spends on electricity at its data centers to process polite terms like “please” and “thank you” when people engage with its ChatGPT chatbot.

Read more
Intel Nova Lake CPUs may require new motherboards with LGA 1954 socket
A render for an Intel Arrow Lake CPU.

Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs, rumored to launch in 2026, could introduce a brand-new LGA 1954 socket, marking yet another socket change for the company's consumer platform. According to leaked shipping manifests and documentation from NBD.ltd shared by VideoCardz, Intel has begun distributing early test kits labeled "NVL-S" — a strong indication that motherboard vendors and partners are already preparing for the next generation of CPUs.

The LGA 1954 socket would feature 1,954 electrically active contact pins, which is a notable jump from the current LGA 1851 socket used with Arrow Lake desktop CPUs. The total pin count could exceed 2,000 when debugging or non-functional pins are considered, and the larger socket may support new I/O features, increased power delivery, and more advanced chiplet designs.

Read more
LG’s latest smart monitor can roll on wheels, but needs a power plug
LG Smart Monitor Swing press image

LG has come up with the Smart Monitor Swing, a unique mobile display that combines a 31.5-inch 4K UHD IPS touchscreen with a stand featuring built-in wheels. Designed for users who prioritize portability, the Swing is said to be a follow-up for LG’s StanbyME portable screen. 

Unlike the StanbyME, there is no built-in battery as the monitor comes with a dedicated power adapter, a questionable choice since one would be restricted by the length of the power cord itself.

Read more